Business Wardrobe

[jfranci3]

Let me caution you into not going over the top shopping initially. A couple of things might happen: 1) Your work mates will shape your dressing decisions. They may dress more creative professional, sale professional, bank professional, or unprofessional than you shopped for. You'd be surprised at how reality can differ from your initial interview impressions and what your friends tell you.
2) You may be assigned to a client which has you dressing down. You'll, for example, be working with client field staff or outside of a metro location. In either case, you'll need to dress in a way which makes your client comfortable. In consulting, you need to dress according to who your client is. The general recommendation is one step up. You can still dress nicely, I'd leave room for maneuvering.

Also, when you're traveling keep in mind that you often wear the same suit twice in a week. The key is give it two different looks. You'll want to find something that's not too distinctive or can be worn in non-matching combinations.

One more recommendation: For generic work pants: Perry Ellis (at Macys). They travel well (won't wrinkle), machine washable, last forever, fit nicely, and are cheap ($40). They won't be mistaken for fine wool, but do make good day to day work pants.

 

[modernminimalist]

Originally Posted by Steeze

I took it seriously until I got to the part about socks and you randomly started writing in all caps. Then I started laughing hysterically. OVER THE CALF. NO PATTERNS.

That was a copy/paste from another post that I sort of based this post around. Everything in italics is copy/paste that I found elsewhere on the board and tried to combine it into a more coherent list. I thought about posting just the questions, but figured as a lot of other recent grads are starting new jobs and since I had spent some time searching the forums that it may be helpful to just include additional information and those that weren't interested could skim it over.

Thanks for the responses so far!

Edit: I put the quoted parts in quotes so it was more apparent.

 

[JG000]

Originally Posted by Cjizzle

Wow, I've been lurking SF for about 3 months and finally had to register to tell you how big of a ****** you are.

I laughed hardily at this. Particularly given the user's (accurate) post count.

OP, relax a little. Slowly build a nice wardrobe over time. It's fun. In your free time go shopping (be it online or in-store). You seem to know what you want. Look for deals and your closet will piece together nicely.

Good luck.

 

[ghdtpdna]

It's funny how over 80% of all men claim to have very broad shoulders.
LOL

 

[scurvyfreedman]

Originally Posted by ghdtpdna

It's funny how over 80% of all men claim to have very broad shoulders.
LOL

And a big...

 

[knat]

FWIW, I found the post to be informative. Not much that I didn't already know, but information on SF is so scattered. It's nice to have everything compiled in one place for those who need it.

 

[mkarim]

Originally Posted by scurvyfreedman

I'd go with one black and one burgundy for shoes to start out. The burgundy goes much better with navy suits than black. Personally, if I never wore black shoes again I'd be okay. I much prefer chocolate brown with grey and burgundy with navy. Brown shoes of different shades go with almost every other suit I own.
+1000. Brown is much more versatile and stylish than black, IMO.

Originally Posted by scurvyfreedman

Acquire slowly, not all at once b/c you will make mistakes and if you spend all of your wardrobe money up front you won't be able to make up for the mistakes.

...or for changes in taste.

 

[modernminimalist]

Just got the first item in my wardrobe: Some AE Park Avenue's in Black. My nordstrom started quietly offering aniversary sale prices today so they were discounted from $330 to $220. I may pick up another pair in a shade of brown. Plus I love nordstrom's return/service policy so figured it was a pretty good deal.

Thanks for all the advice so far! I'm a very slow shopper so don't plan on getting all of this at once. Just a few basics by mid august for work, and then I plan to slowly expand from there to fill out a basic wardrobe.

 

[Collector23]

I have a similar build to you (but shorter) and my advice re shirts is to go bespoke/MTM as soon as you can afford to, as it's highly unlikely that you'll find a RTW brand that will give a decent fit.

Took the plunge a year ago and never looked back!

Re suits, find a brand that fits well across the shoulders and then go to a good tailor to get the rest right.

 

[z7f9q]

It's not that expensive to do MTM shirts, but make sure you know what you want before you make an order. If you're in DC, like somebody said, they'll come to town.

As far as the advice copied into the OP goes, I find a fair bit of it questionable. It may just be outdated.

 

[alliswell]

Son, you're a consultant. Don't confess your ignorance on a basic topic like this ever again. It's your job to have answers, not just questions.

 

[nahneun]

this dude is a wannabe yuppie

 

[surrender]

What about H&M for shirts? I know it has a reputation for being flashy, but the store has a lot of slim-fitting shirts in sober patterns.

 

[KNuss]

I'm new here and in a similar position to you.

My advice is to not put too much faith in any one resource.
You need to develop your own sense of style.
Go try on a ridiculous amount of stuff until you find something you like. Build around that.
Also remember that different lines from different manufacturers fit completely differently, so don't rule out any one based on trying on just one suit.
Nordstrom is having their anniversary sale now and has some very good prices.
Go in there, find someone who knows what they're talking about, explain your situation, and see what they suggest to you. You could end up spending a lot of money in one place, but it may be stuff you really like! Just my $.02.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

shirts

I have serious doubts that you are both a 16-1/4" neck and a 30" waist. Most people wear a collar 1" too big and the resulting shirt is huge.

Try a 15.5" collar and see how that fits you in a RL custom fit shirt (mainline, not from macys). They have a store in Tysons a fellow named Rosario there can be very helpful.

One of my friends is a very muscular hockey player, in really fantastic shape, he's a 42" chest and wears a 15.5" collar, that's why i have my doubts that someone with a swimmers build is wearing such a huge collar.

Since your in good shape if you want the shirts to fit well you'll have to have them trimmed through the sides. I dont bother with this anymore because I find darts and ultra trim shirts to be uncomfortable. I like my shirts trim, but not darted and certainly not skin tight.

When it comes to shirts, if you want to fly under the radar consider buying Barrel cuffs and button down collars.

Bengal stripes and solids in oxford cloth.

shoes

Black cap toes. 2 pair done, buy something substantial.

Go with Aldens, guys who want to wear nice clothes but dont want to stand out too much chose alden.

If you want some choices in your shoe wardrobe here you are:

Those are the two options that business people chose who dont care about style but want to wear nice clothes.

Suits

Polo will fit you well, buy up some seasonal worsteds before they sell out. Have the jacket sides and pant waist taken in.

Buy 4-5 suits

Socks

Charcoal gray and navy blue cotton, I dont bother with over the calf because I find them to be excessively hot in the summer.

I have about 20 pair and thats plenty

Ties

Solid, Fancy small pattern and stripes. Done.

Avoid tie bars, pocket squares, cufflinks. French cuff shirts are rarely noticed unless you buy contrast cuffs and wear Epic sized gaudy cufflinks.

Contrast collars stand out a bit, you're best avoiding them.

Braces are fine if you keep your jacket on, I wear them alot so I dont really think about it.